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Chapter 27
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Yield, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Exploitation
The Power of Language and Cultural History
Family, Identity, and Belonging
Collective Trauma, Memory, and Guilt
Human Spirituality and the Natural World
Summary
Analysis
Once again, Albert defines Aboriginal words in the context of his life. After returning to Prosperous, the ancestors try to show him what the property was like in the past—a real bimbal (“home”). Albert cannot understand how people like the mining company are attempting to own galgan—seeds, “the center of life.” He writes of his ancestors’ practices, including their methods for gathering honey and their reverence for the bumbadula tree (“geebung”). When the subject turns to his own family, Albert becomes sorrowful. He thinks putting Jolene and Joey in ngunba-ngidala (“jail”) is an overcorrection designed to intimidate Aboriginal people. Albert believes such behavior only emphasizes the prosecutor’s closemindedness.
Living at Prosperous under his own authority grants Albert a new appreciation of the land his ancestors cultivated. While colonial exploiters like Rinepalm try to possess natural means of production, the Aboriginal Australians revered the natural world and perceived themselves as dependent on its gifts. Colonial powers have historically tried to dominate Aboriginal Australians through excessive punishment, with the result that judiciary prejudice has become a systemic problem. Albert sees the overcorrection of his daughter and grandson for what it really is: a dismissal of his relatives’ humanity.
Active
Themes
Again, Albert laments failing his garungun (“granddaughter”), not specifying whether he means August or Jedda. Albert believes everyone should be taught how to fish (ngalamarra), to love someone, to garden, and to read. He describes making buwu-nung (“millet flour”), using bagabin (“flowers”) to start fires and filter water, and cooking meat in a gulambula (“earth oven”). Albert gained this knowledge from his ancestors, who also told him some things are walan-buwu-ya-rra—forbidden to be spoken of. Albert’s last entries talk about animal and human physiology, both of which are baffling to him. He claims Biyaami, the creator God, has nguruwinydyinang-garang (“emu feet”), though he doesn’t know the reason.
Active
Themes
